It’s the beginning of a race to the bottom of provision in primary care, says Dr David Turner
There currently seems to be a glut of SAS doctors: the GMC’s latest workforce data show that their numbers have grown at almost six times the rate of GPs in the past five years – and now the body’s chief executive Charlie Massey suggests that rules could be relaxed to let them into general practice.
On the surface, this does not seem a bad idea. A shortage of doctors in one area could be bolstered by a relative glut in another. Except, of course, these doctors are not GPs nor are they GP trained.
I guess Mr Massey must think that general practice is not a proper specialty if doctors who are not trained in it can be slotted in to help mop up the workload. If this is the case, why does the GMC make us undergo training to become GPs?
However, if this is the new status quo, the flow can presumably go both ways. I have done a bit of minor surgery, so does that mean if I fancied a change, I could pop over to our local DGH and do a shift or two as a surgeon?
Of course not, that would be ridiculous. Surgery is a specialised area of medicine requiring many years of postgraduate study and training, whereas anyone can turn their hand to family medicine.
Sarcasm aside, this seems to be the start of a race to the bottom of provision in primary care and healthcare in general. Using cheaper non-doctor alternatives, such as nurse specialists and physician associates, has become commonplace in the past decade.
A new phase of shifting cheaper doctors around the health service is, I guess, a logical next step for the cash-strapped Government with a health service in crisis.
‘Hell’ and ‘handcart’ are the only words that spring to mind.
Dr Turner is a GP in Hertfordshire. Read more of his blogs here
